Villa send shadow squad to Russia

Stand-in skipper Gareth Barry, Brad Friedel, Emile Heskey, James Milner, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Carlos Cuellar and Stiliyan Petrov are all excluded from the 19-strong party announced on Tuesday by the former Celtic boss.Luke Young, Curtis Davies, Zat Knight and John Carew are among the few experienced players in the squad.Youngsters such as Elliott Parish, Eric Lichaj, Ciaran Clark, Shane Lowry, Barry Bannan and Mark Albrighton are included.O'Neill has made it clear that securing a Champions League spot via a top four finish in the Premier League is his priority.He said: "We have a couple of players carrying injuries and a couple of others who I believe need resting for the important final third of the season."Cuellar has been troubled by a hamstring injury and O'Neill indicated at the weekend he would not travel for fear of aggravating the problem on a plastic pitch.Heskey only returned to action against Chelsea at the weekend after picking up an Achilles injury while on England duty in Spain.Villa squad: Guzan, Taylor, Parish, Luke Young, Davies, Knight, Shorey, Lichaj, Clark, Lowry, Sidwell, Salifou, Gardner, Osbourne, Bannan, Albrighton, Harewood, Carew, Delfouneso.

Source: Team_Talk